In this era of globalization, man is facing air pollution which is the most serious environmental problem in this world. As the world moves more into the modern age, more pollutants are spewed into the air. Politicians environmentalists and the general public have expressed their concern about this issue. Air pollution is caused by a wide variety of factors. This essay will discuss the causes, effects and measures to overcome air pollution.
Air pollution has wide adverse effects on the environment and man in general. One of the effects of air pollution is health hazard. The polluted air contains one or more hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant that creates a hazard to the general health causing aliments such as asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory diseases. According to research in USA, each year about 30 000 premature deaths occur. And it is estimated that in the most polluted cities, lives of residents are shortened by one to two years. Global warming is another effect of air pollution. It refers to the gradual increase of the temperature of the earth. Global warming affects our earth by destroying the ecosystem and melts polar ice caps. Furthermore, it will raise the sea levels that cause coastal floods. Besides, air pollution can cause acid rain. This does not only harm man but also animals, fish and plants. Moreover, acid rain also affects the ground by making the soil toxic thereby poisoning many animals and plants. In addition, air pollution causes the ozone layer to become thinner and thinner. Thus, it reduces its ability to shield us from ultraviolet (UV) radiation. All this not only can cause skin cancer but also will damage the wildlife and plants.
Some of major causes of air pollution are open burning, emission of toxic wastes by factories and unpredictable natural disaster. Open burning is practised by irresponsible people who burn things such as plastic and garbage which introduces carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Although,...